


How To Save A Twin

by Maimat



Series: Sorta Like 7-Eleven [1]
Category: Boondock Saints (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-12
Updated: 2013-03-12
Packaged: 2017-12-05 03:18:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/718269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maimat/pseuds/Maimat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hoag Prison wasn't good for either of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Save A Twin

It was a stupid code, but it was clear, at least to Connor. There were plans in the works. It was a letter written from their so called cousin, mostly rambling on about invented relatives and stupid stuff until the second last paragraph containing gossip about another invented cousin.

Though she's still in her first trimester, the pregnancy is going well. The baby is due in the spring.

That left seven months.

"You can't fucking know that." Murphy scoffed. "It could be one of those crazy prisoner fans ye hear about."

But Connor knew.

This place wasn't good for either of them, neither of them could survive this place for twenty years like their father did, but Connor was especially worried for Murphy. The guards were decent, it was obvious most of them were sympathetic and would have their backs when possible. Not even all the inmates were against them. But enough of them were. The Mafia. That was enough.

They got Murphy while they were cleaning up in the cafeteria. It wasn't like they were far from each other at the time, just Connor in the kitchen and Murphy mopping in the hall, but, all it took was a broom handle wedged through the door handles and Connor was separated from Murphy. It could have just as easily been the other way around. When the guards finally arrived, Connors wrists were bloody from beating on the doors to get them to open, and most of the guys who attacked Murphy were down. But, so was Murph.

Murphy spent three days in the infirmary, and after that he was transferred straight to solitary as a punishment for fighting. Connor knew his brother could take a beating just as confidently as he knew his brother couldn't handle being locked up alone. Connor worried and he waited. And he kept asking the guards if they could give Murphy a break; it wasn't like Murphy had been looking for a fight. Connor hoped if they considered the circumstances of the fight then his brother's unfair punishment for being ambushed and beaten up might be ended early.

They didn't let him out. Rules are rules. Fuck the rules. They kept him locked up in solitary for over a week. Then Connor got back after his hour in the yard, and there he was. Murphy was sitting on the bottom bunk, elbows on his knees and head down.

"Hey." Connor said. Murphy looked up but didn't otherwise react, and Connor sat beside him. He hadn't seen his brother for nearly two weeks, and the last time had been through the fucking little window in the kitchen he couldn't get out of while Murphy fought for his life.

The bruises were already fading. But the shadows under his brother's eyes told a whole other story. He put a hand on Murphy's back and felt his breath hitch as he leaned over even farther and kept his face buried in his arms. "You okay?" Connor asked.

Murphy nodded. "Just tired."

"Sure. Get some rest. I've got your back."

Murphy climbed up into the upper bunk and lied down.

...

That night in their cell, Connor waited for Murphy to say something to him, and instead what he heard was his brother softly reciting psalms. Connor listened for a while, and then joined in. And as he whispered those words alongside his brother, he knew if things carried on as they were, Murphy wasn't even going to last seven months let alone the full seven years for their sentence. He had no doubt Murphy would survive, that wasn't it at all. His brother would survive, but Connor knew the light in him would be snuffed out as surely as any candle in a hurricane.

And he knew how to save his brother. When they were done reciting psalms, Connor said softly. "I don't think I can do this."

The silence felt thick. "Did something happen while I was down?"

Connor stared at Murphy intently. "No. They haven't gotten to me yet. Good to have you back."

"We'll be okay. Remember what you told me about our pregnant cousin? It isn't that long."

"I thought you didn't believe that."

"There might be something to it. Maybe." Murphy allowed.

"Every day feels like forever." Connor insisted. All their lives they followed the same cycle; if one twin was weak, the other stayed strong. If Murphy couldn't be strong for himself, then Connor would make sure he'd stay strong for him.

And he knew, the only way he could save Murphy was to make Murphy to save him.

"Its not that long, Conn." Murphy promised. They both knew it was long enough for a whole world of bad things to happen, but they would get through it just like they did everything else so far.


End file.
